This weekend we went on an amazing hike with friends to Mount Hamilton area. We climbed 1600 feet and did 7+ miles of some pretty steep hikes in Joseph D. Grant county park. Part of the park had fires and while it was all out, we could see the burnt trees and get some of the smell in the air.
It was an amazing hike. It had rained all last night and this morning and the colors were vibrant. There was a part on our way back where the fog rolled in and we had very poor visibility, but it was okay because we were in a group.
Once we descended below the fog, we were treated to amazing views of the lake and a spectacular sunset..
It took us a good 45 minutes to drive to the parking lot and three hours to do the trails. Some parts are so steep that you pretty much have to run down in as controlled a fashion as possible!
There is Mount Hamilton in the background..
Happy to be in fresh air among friends..
was wearing the mask when anyone was within eyesight.. for the most part the entire area was empty. We saw a total of 8 people over that 3 hour period... after some point was just wearing the mask like an armband just to huff and puff my way up the slopes.
The scenery was breathtaking..
be it sunny..
overcast..
or foggy..
I also got a close up picture of this little guy who we almost stepped on..
A short video clip from the afternoons hike..
When the sun started setting we were treated to some amazing colors..
amazing views of the lake as we walked down towards it
The last few pictures were taken from the park entrance/exit..
The fog was amazing to watch, as long as we were below it!
Our friends treated us to some vadais, hot chai and cookies etc.
after they were all safely tucked away into the tummy, we drove back to what was an amazing sunset..
got these from the moving car..
There was no room to park and take pictures on this one lane windy road that got us back down to the valley..
It was surreal with all the hues being reflected everywhere!
Something tells me we will be going here again and spending more time in this park. Strongly recommend a hike here if you have at least a 4-5 hour window. Go there by noon (if you are going in December!) so you are back down before the fog rolls in..
Given the last 7 months, we decided to take another short ride to a place within an hour radius that has not been visited in the last 20 years.. San found just the place in Devils slide near Pacifica.
The weather was pleasant and we drove almost an hour to the parking lot there. Then there was a hike that was 3 miles back and forth from one parking lot to the other and back. This is a beautiful bike and walkway that goes around the mountainside overlooking the pacific ocean.
There were 6 whales there breaching, but we could not catch it.
We had great visibiilty while we walked one way and it started raining on our way back. For some reason we were just happy to be there and didn't care.
We met an interesting old man called "Uncle Ericson" who was an 84 year old retired plastic surgeon who walks this path every day. we got to chat with him in the drizzle on the way back and he told us some stories about the place. That made the return walk interesting! He told us about this Jeep that was rolled down the slope by theives and how it has been there since 1999 and now trees are growing through it!
Got to take some pictures with both the iPhone and the Canon this time.
It is all mixed and matched here (some of the iPhone photos adjusted in snapseed as well)
a slideshow of the rest of the pictures..
Loved the place and the walk.. we were both happy to walk together someplace after a long time!
On Day 6 we started at Monta Verde and drove to Coco Mar beach resort. This was a road out of Monta Verde that was well paved and in a different direction. It was an almost 5 hour trip. We did have our animal of the day sighting at El Bosque in just before leaving.. this Capybara cousin is called an Agouti.
There were many scenic spots on the drive and our driver stopped twice for photo ops.
We drove past Caldera which was beautiful..
We had a 30 minute stop at a place called Tarcoles where the Fresh water crocs gather on the river banks and we can see them by walking across the bridge. It is also a rest stop area on that route and there are a lot of stores selling stuff (including made in India beach towels with chakras elephants and what not..). You can bargain in these stores just like in desi markets. The banana chips in these stores is also fresh and out of the world. We bought chips and they were finished by the time we made it to the bridge and back.
Then we were off to Coco Mar. This was a small resort with two buildings but a practically private beach. As soon as we checked in, we had a late lunch. I went to my local staple of quesadillas and cilantro rice..it was also my dinner.
It was pretty hot and humid and the weather change from Monta Verde where it is cold to the beach is something that takes a few hours to get used to. In 10 minutes my T-shirt was drenched.. We decided it was better to just go to the beach even though we had just finished the lunch. It was a good move!
There was only our families at the beach for the first two hours. Then another two families were visible. We saw a glorious sunset and were hanging around for a good 20 minutes till it got dark and came to our rooms. Then it started pouring for a good hour! We had a really lucky and good day.
me in my Yoga uniform..
it is not a good idea to go into the water on a full stomach.. but somehow it did not bother me or anyone else that day.. in three hours we were all hungry and ready to eat again!
we did a little photoshoot of the entire group for our New Year social media card, just as the sun was setting..thanks to another family that had just showed up at the beach..
A video of the days adventures..
This was my first time using a boogie board. My friend Padma gave me a 10 minute "crash" course on how to use it and time my jump before a double wave. It took me a few tries but I got the hang of it and enjoyed it thoroughly. Really didn't want to come out of the water when it got dark. The water was so warm and pleasant and you could see the sand through the water.. it was that clear! Amazing beaches in Costa Rica!
Would definitely recommend the Coco Mar resort if you are eventually going to Manuel Antonio state park as the next stop. It is closer to the park compared to Jaco (which is also beautiful and more commercial.. we stopped there on Day 7) and there is no one on the beaches.
Almost managed to finish all the blog posts before work catches up tomorrow. . .
Day 7 was the last day. We started at Puno in the morning and drove to Juliaca airport. We almost missed the flight out to Puno. The bus driver stopped at every street corner and waited to pick up passengers, not all of them going to the airport.
We were cutting it very close and a lot of airport folks said "please get us to the airport". This person was tryig to make a few extra bucks picking up people en route to drop but it could have cost us a lot more if we missed the flight. There were not that many flights out of Juliaca!
Finally after some anxious moments we made it through a traffic jam to the small airport and made it to Lima. It was almost 3PM in Lima. Our original plan was to stay in the airport till our 1AM flight back to US.
We were sitting at the starbucks in Lima airport talking to a girl and her mom who were on their way to India for a two week sightseeing tour, giving them tips when we realized we had time.
We called our tour agent and said "please get us a driver to take us around some local sights in Lima and drop us back at the airport at 9 PM or so". He quickly arranged a 4 hour block and guess what? we got the same driver who had picked us up 6 days ago when we started the tour. He was a really nice guy and we talked about his family and life history while we talked about ours.
He also volunteered to take pictures of us. We had four hours. So we decided to spend 2 hours in Miraflores, the waterfront recreation area in Lima. It was beautiful! Nice breeze, sunset, lots of people out there on new years eve coming to celebrate.
We walked and rambled on top of large stones to go into the edge of this walkway of sorts and got some great family photos!
We had to take one picture with what a Beligian couple told was "sexy llamas" the previous day in Isla de Tequile. I took a photo of them on their camera and they were doing this with their fingers.
We stopped outside one of Lima's top rated restaurants for a few photos. Then we were on the other side of the road as we made it into Lima for the last stop. Dinner at an Indian restaurant to close out the new year.
As we watched the sunset over the large statues of a man and a woman in various kissing holds and the bustling night life around the statues, we realized that the trip was coming to a close and this had been a lot of fun!
Dinner at Mantra was a quiet affair. There was Shah Rukh Khan hamming his way through some song and dance sequences on a big screen and an international crowd that had come in to celebrate New Year. We had a quick dinner as our driver was waiting outside and wanted to get home to his family by 9:30.
Then he dropped us off at 9 and we were back in the airport. Lima airport is small and it has one VIP lounge. Usually they let only one guest in with my United pass, but given it was New Year's eve, they let the entire family in. We had a decent Wifi connection and an unlimited supply of orange juice and chex mix!
So the family settled in for the next 3 hours till boarding time. Then we watched the ball drop in NYC on the big screen with spanish commentary and all the agents in the gate area did a little walk for us and we thanked them all for their service.
Next thing you know, 2017 started with a 1AM flight.
Day 7 in video..
I am glad that Sangeetha pretty much forced me to agree to this trip. Had wanted to laze around and recharge at home during the break, but the wife and kids gave me an ultimatum. We are going somewhere!
It was a lot of fun and I did get to recharge with all the activity. This year, I am not going to fight it and instead join in the plans.
There are a lot more places to see in Peru and package tours within package tours. We might go back again in a few years to see the Nasca lines, the jungle tours and see more excavated sites in the high mountains.
Finally after another fortnight, managed to get back to the photos and videos from the Peru trip! Family thinks it will be December by the time I get to Day 6 and the last day of the trip to this blog..
It has been a busy two weeks with work, yoga and things happening at home, thanks to some really heavy rain.
This time we start with the family portraits.. we got two on a 12 hour day. The first one was taken at the Raqchi ruins and the second one at Raya Pass.
Day 5 started okay. No waking up early for the kids. We had a taxi waiting to take us to the bus stop and once there we waited for everyone to load their suitcases into the bus. After a 30 minute wait we were off to Puno from Cusco.
We had a nice driver, a tour guide and a lady who was serving coca tea and coke pepsi to the folks at regular intervals. The ride was 11+ hours at least, with 6 stops every hour and 15 minutes to hour and a half. That made the ladies very happy!
Our first stop was an amazing church built in the 1600's. There was no photography allowed inside. It is the most beautiful Church I have seen to date. Maybe the sistine chapel will top this when I get to see it someday.
Every wall, every piece of the ceiling was covered with amazing art work. There were strategically placed mirrros everywhere that took sunlight from openings high up and reflected them everywhere to create a disco light effect. Locals who visited it for the first time probably just kneeled down and bowed their heads to this magnificence. I sure did!
We also saw the amazing scenery around the church and watched the dozen or so stray dogs outside for a good 15 minutes while waiting for everyone to come back to the bus and we saw a "Bajaj Auto". I was telling the kids "that is an Indian Auto". They agreed it was an auto but did not think it was a Bajaj..
Then we moved on to another place with a small museum of sorts that showed the history of the region between Cusco and Puno over time. This place had some mummies of royalty who used to compress their skulls and they had elongated skulls! I thought this was a hoax. Apparently it was very much in vogue 600 years ago..
The first skull had a line across it.. the second one didnt. There were lot of photographs of other mummies that showed same thing.
Like the display of the 100's of potato varieties in a previous museum, this one had corn varieties that grow in Peru. It was impressive.
Then there was the usual jewelry and how they make it with natural materials show.. we got used to this one after three of these show rooms.
The next stop after this was a rope bridge in another ancient city. The wife and kids decided to stay in the bus. I walked over the bridge and got some shots with a Japanese family while the rest of the bus visited the biggest attraction after a 90 minute ride.. aka restroom at Checacupe!
Apparently this was fixed after the original bridge collapsed. Still it was a neat experience. They are still excavating the place to find more ruins..
After this we went to the ruins at Raqchi. It was made of mud bricks and stone. This time they had figured out how to make the mud bricks stronger by mixing human and animal hair and feathers into the brick. The Incas had figured out "composite materials" by trial and error and perfected it enough to have a mud brick structure that was 50 feet tall stand for 600 years!
There are more photos of Raqchi in the galleries..While coming out of the place saw this flower. We used to have a lot of flowers in our house. Thanks to the construction work, we have lost most of them. Watching a single plant with a flower when there was rocks and ruins everywhere made me smile!
We wandered around the shops outside the little museum and bought some local jewelry.
It was back on the bus to our next stop.. Lunch! It was a beautiful drive with farm lands, grazing alpacas, waterfalls.. just frame after frame of beauty!
After lunch we were told to take a nap. It was going to be some serious driving along mountain passes and we would stop at the highest pass... we saw some wild alpaca, llamas and vicune on the way..
and we were there!
and the locals had set up shops ready for the buses! They added color to the scenery..
Didn't even have to edit these photos. Most of them are just cropped. Next to Manali, this is the one place that makes me think beyond god!
We were given 20 minutes at Raya pass to take pictures. Then we were off to Pukara, which was the last stop.
This place had a civilization before the Incas in 400 BC based on the finds. It was interesting to see three layers of excavations. There was an amazing church here as well but it was closed for visitors. There was some big peacock like native birds which were far away on a window making loud calls (got it on video).
The tour guide gave us an elaborate explanation of what was going on in Peru with all the excavations, how they are now open to tourists etc. etc.. In short it was a "Make Peru Great Again" speech.
We saw the museum, the ruins and finally made our way to Puno. We went through another big city 30 minutes before Puno called Juliaca, where the local airport was. I finally proved to the family that the autos were indeed Bajaj autos. We saw a few hundred of them on the roads there!
It was late in the evening when we made it to our hotel. We had a couple of hours to explore the town square.
Then it was time for a good rest before we had to get ready at 6:30 for another interesting day..
Day 6 was going to be Lake Titicaca and a visit to the Isla de Tequile.
Saturday, December 12, 2020 at 7:55PM ;)
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